There's Nothing Ahead but the Open Road
by Rachwrites82
Summary: Lucy plans a surprise for Wyatt on their first day out of the bunker but it turns out to be harder than she expected.


Comfort.

It's a foreign feeling for Lucy, so it gradually wrenches her from the deep state of blissful unconsciousness she is in. The past two years she had grown accustomed to snagging minimal bits of slumber in the most unique set of conditions. If it wasn't dingy hotel beds and dusty, hard grounds throughout history, it was rocklike couches and cots in the drafty, cold bunker in the present. Now, not only does she discover herself floating in a sea of feathery, down comforter bliss, but the soft yet muscular body of Wyatt Logan is enveloped around her like a cocoon. The heaviness of his arm draped around her abdomen and the way his fingers are clasped around her tiny wrist advocates he had no intent in allowing her to slide too far away from him during the night. As her mind begins to wake up a little more, a smile invades Lucy's face and she realizes another foreign feeling has taken her hostage.

Happiness.

Unable to refrain from seeing the cause of all these wonderful feelings she is experiencing, Lucy opens her chocolate brown eyes and hesitantly, so as not to wake him, turns her body and face towards Wyatt. She almost gasps in wonder as she's ambushed by his wide, awake and soft, blue eyes, along with his insanely, captivating smirk, that should be outlawed in fifty states.

"Good morning, sleepy head."

The low, husky monotone of Wyatt Logan's morning voice, sends tingling, goosebumps cascading over Lucy's body, and it is now her favorite sound.

"Are we in heaven?"

Lucy is teasing Wyatt but waking up in a five star hotel room, in the arms of the man she loves, and to a world where Ritten house had been stopped, makes the notion of them actually being in heaven a possibility.

Wyatt laughs, "Close, but no, we're very much alive."

As if to prove his point, he grazes Lucy's face with the back of his hand and clutches her chin between his fingers, guiding her lips to his in a soft, searing kiss.

"I can see how waking up here would certainly feel like we're in heaven, considering our last habitable conditions." Wyatt breaks away from their kiss to tell her.

"That's right. No more bunker." Lucy feigns sadness.

Wyatt didn't buy it. "Damn right, no more crappy bunker!"

"Well, it wasn't crappy the other night. At least we got to have one good Christmas together in there," Lucy reminds him, as she gives in to temptation, allowing her fingers to explore the terrain of his shirtless physique, happily arriving at their favorite destination, his face.

"True," he agrees closing his eyes, pleased with the sensational affect her touch has on him.

As if he can resist no longer, he takes hold of her hand, brushing his lips against every finger before bringing her arms above her head and confiscating his shirt she was wearing from her eager, welcoming body. Before going any further, Wyatt captures Lucy's eyes with his own, allowing her to witness his adoration for her in the depths of his expression. She can't imagine a greater feeling than the way he makes her feel loved and respected. She reaches up and traces the contours of his face with her fingers, savoring every tingle and sensation sparking beneath her fingertips and then her lips when she leans up to kiss him.

As they make love, Lucy realizes this is what all of their mornings could be like now. The blaring noise of the bunker alarm would not interfere, they could leave and go anywhere and anytime they pleased because they were no longer in hiding. It's the freedom that's hardest for Lucy to fathom the most. So many things had kept her feeling trapped since her very first trip in the lifeboat. Her obligation to save history, Ritten house, Her mother, and the pain her and Wyatt had endured at not being able to be with each other for the past few months. They were free from all of it. They ended up in this hotel room last night because when they both stepped outside of the bunker, hand in hand, to the present, dusty California air, they realized neither of them knew where home was anymore, they'd been calling the bunker home. They considered their options, Wyatt's small one bedroom apartment held too many memories of regret and guilt for him, and Lucy's last place of residence was her Mother's home. The last time Lucy had been there, her mother revealed herself as Ritten House, kidnapped her, and then continued to express her loyalty to the evil organization and her desire for Lucy to be a part of it until her last dying breath. The thought of going back to that house, and taking care of her mother's assets made Lucy feel as if she was back in the river, trapped under the water in her vehicle, gasping for air. Sensing the reason for her panic without Lucy having to voice it out loud, Wyatt made a suggestion.

"We don't have to figure this out today. It's Christmas. Let's go somewhere fun."

Lucy nodded at Wyatt in appreciation. They'd been back together for all of two days, but you'd think they'd been together for years, from the way they were automatically tuned to each other's feelings. Maybe it was because the timeline had changed, and even though they didn't remember it, Jessica had never come back and they'd been a couple, sharing a room in the bunker since Hollywood. Maybe their minds were on auto pilot like the lifeboat their future selves had left behind. When Lucy thinks back on everything though, she knows it's not just the change in the timeline. They'd always been in sync since the first time he called her Ma'am and smirked at her. She figured in every timeline they were like the hour hand and the minute hand on a clock, always meant to come back together. Now, back in the hotel room as they both bring each other to the peak of euphoric ecstasy, Lucy knows their clock has stopped right on the perfect hour, they aren't moving away from each other again, and this was how it was always meant to be.

0 • 0 • 0 • 0 • 0

Their hungry stomachs is the only force pulling them from the comfort of the bed. They get dressed and make their way down to the lobby for breakfast. When they are settled at the table and Wyatt is focused on his eggs and pancakes, Lucy takes the opportunity to get out her phone and check in on the surprise she has planned for Wyatt.

'Did you find one?' she texts Rufus.

'Needle in a haystack, Lucy, but Mason happened to know someone who had one, got you a pretty good deal.' Rufus texts back to her.

Lucy can't contain her excitement.

"Who has got you smiling like that?" Wyatt teasingly questions her, feigning jealously.

"Rufus says hi," Lucy replies.

"It's only been 24 hours since we've left the bunker, he's missing us already?"

"I guess so, him and Jiya are running errands today."

Lucy doesn't elaborate that they are running errands for her, and she's thankful Wyatt isn't nosy enough to question her further. He seems to have something else on his mind as he eyes Lucy thoughtfully and carefully.

"What is it?" Lucy asks him, slightly concerned.

"Possibilities," Wyatt answers her, offering her a sideways grin to ease her concern.

"Possibilities," Lucy echoes him and smiles, "We get to explore all of them now don't we?"

Wyatt smiles back widely at her, "Yes Ma'am, we do."

After a second, he get's more serious and adds, "Together."

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Lucy assures him as her heart swells.

Wyatt reaches across the table and takes her hand.

"Good, now that we have that all cleared up, the rest is easy," he explains to her. "One step at a time."

Lucy smiles at him and nods her head in agreement. Then, when she starts to think about some of those steps, her smile collapses and her eyes water.

"I know it's weak of me, but I can't bear the thought of going back to my mother's house. Every time I think of it, I can't breathe," Lucy admits.

She feels so vulnerable and she hates it. She knows how to take care of herself, she doesn't understand why this particular circumstance is so hard for her, or why she feels the need to burden Wyatt with it. Wyatt lets go of her hand just in time to gently swipe at a tear trailing down Lucy's face. He slowly strokes her cheek with his thumb looking at her firmly in adoration.

"Have I ever told you how brave you are Lucy Preston?" He asks her affectionately.

Lucy shakes her head, "I don't feel brave right now."

"Well that's a shame," Wyatt softly chastises her, "Take it from me, someone who's been responsible for your safety all this time. Do you know how many times you have impressed and infuriated me with your bravery?"

Lucy thinks about it and can't help but to crack a smile at the little spark of truth starting to seep in.

A little triumphant that he's getting through to her, Wyatt continues, "You're the same Lucy Preston who faced a room full of nazis in Nazis Germany, who wrote the very letter that created Texas, who managed to escape Flynn at the Chicago Worlds fair and rescue me and Rufus from a serial killer."

He speaks more proudly, "You're the same Lucy Preston who marched against an angry mob of sexist men and police officers, with a target on your back, so women could have the right to vote."

He speaks sadly, "When you thought all of us were dead and that you were the only one left to stop Ritten house, you were ready to sacrifice yourself to take them down."

He sighs and smiles emotionally at her, "You ran across a war zone of open gunfire for me, convincing me I was needed and giving me something else to fight for. You stood in front of a crowd of strangers in Hollywood and sang your heart out despite how nervous you were, and later that night you were at your bravest as you threw your arms around me and went all in with me."

He drops his head in regret and looks back up at her with watery eyes, "And in that church in North Korea, you gave me a second chance."

He looks at her with so much love and whispers, "Lucy Preston you're my hero."

Floored by his statement and at a loss for words, Lucy just smiles at Wyatt letting her tears fall as Wyatt continues to smooth them away.

"It's okay to feel what you're feeling regarding your Mother, it certainly doesn't make you weak, " Wyatt soothes her. "I know she has borderlined more towards 'Mommy Dearest' lately than 'Mother of the year', but Lucy, she was your mother, and she died, and it hasn't even been a week since then. We can process this any way you need to. If you need more time before going back to a home you and her and Amy shared, you take that time. If you need us to go take care of everything today so you can put all this behind you, then we'll do that, or, and I will not think any less of you if you decide this, you don't have to go back there at all. Me and Rufus can go get your things, and I can hire someone to take care of your mother's assets and the house. You don't have to go through this alone, understand?"

Lucy thinks about all the times she was brave he'd mentioned and she realizes why she felt the need to burden him with her problem. Wyatt had been there to help her through all of it. He inspired her and pushed her to be at her strongest and best. He still does it now.

"I understand," Lucy answers him as they share a mutual loving look.

They finish their breakfast in comfortable small chatter, Lucy teasing Wyatt about how little butter he spreads on his pancakes and he teases her over how much she puts on hers. When her coffee gets low Wyatt gets up and refills her cup, bringing it back just the way she likes it without her having to tell him. Lucy is overwhelmed by how content she is with the domesticity of this whole scenario. On the elevator ride back up to their room she can't help herself any longer so she takes Wyatt by surprise with the tightest embrace she can manage. She tries to communicate everything she's thinking and feeling to him with the force of her arms, and he meets her hold completely, sighing and nuzzling his face and lips into her neck. The elevator bell dings alerting them they've arrived on their floor, and as the doors open Lucy is grateful for the hold she has on Wyatt and how he's facing the elevator wall and not the door, because as the doors slowly open bit by bit, to her horror, Rufus and Jiya start to appear right before her eyes.

Lucy gasps out loud and franticly shooes her two friends away with her hand. They quickly obey her with shocked, apologetic expressions. They happen to just clear out of sight as Wyatt turns around in puzzlement.

"There was a fly," Lucy quickly lies to him as she curses Rufus in her mind. He was supposed to text her when he arrived.

Wyatt shrugs off Lucy's odd behavior rather hesitantly. Lucy should have known he'd sense when she was lying. It wasn't her best skill despite all the practice she'd had of it in their line of work. She nervously looks up and down the hall as they make their way back to their room, searching for a sign in which direction her partners in crime had gone.

"You okay?" Wyatt asks her slightly unsettled over her behavior.

"Fine," Lucy answers him with a reasuring smile.

Just then, she looks up and sees Rufus poke his head around the corner of the hallway. She gives him a stern look and shooes him away again. Wyatt turns and eyes her suspiciously a split second after Rufus's head disappears behind the corner.

"Seriously, can you not see the fly?" Lucy complains in exasperation.

"No, but I don't blame it for wanting to be around you." Wyatt teases as he snickers and shakes his head at Lucy's oddballness.

"You and your pick up lines," Lucy laughs at him, as Wyatt grins and shrugs at her while unlocking the door.

They step into the room and Lucy hurries up and shuts the door.

"Trying to keep the fly out there?" Wyatt questions her skeptically.

"Yes," Lucy answers him in a tone suggesting she hadn't thought of that being the reason until he put the idea in her head.

Wow, she thinks to herself, she really does suck at lying. She wants to surprise Wyatt because she thinks if anyone deserves to have fun it's him, the person who'd kept them alive through this whole time travel nightmare. Also she loves him, and she doubts Wyatt knows what it's like to be treasured and doted on. She wants him to feel that more than anything. Also, their mission to the Darlington was the most relaxed and care free Lucy had ever seen Wyatt. She wanted to see him fanboy again. Lucy bites her lip in thought while she attempts to think of a reason to tell Wyatt why she has to leave the room alone, so she can meet Rufus and Jiya. As she racks her brain she hears water running and realizes Wyatt has walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Good, she thinks, she can sneak out while he's in there, but her train of thought on her plans is interrupted by the sight of a shirtless Wyatt standing in the bathroom doorway with an inviting look on his face. Meeting Rufus and Jiya and Wyatt's surprise is momentarily forgotten by Lucy as she contemplates accepting his invitation. No, she scolds herself, Wyatt deserves this, and there'd be plenty of time for play later.

"Umm…you can go ahead without me, I'll join you in minute, I need a… lady minute," Lucy blurts off the top of her head, silently cursing herself in humiliation. Why had she said that? What kind of lady minute would she need without the bathroom? To her relief, Wyatt nods and obliges her by giving her a wink, and closing the bathroom door, leaving it slightly cracked.

Before Lucy could make her escape, a light knock sounds at the door. Lucy throws her hands up in the air in exasperation, hoping Wyatt didn't hear the knocking. She takes off in a sprint towards the door, but as she passes the bed, part of the sheet that's sprawled out on the floor gets tangled up on her foot and she looses her balance at full speed sending her body sailing and landing on the ground with a loud kurplunk.

"LUCY!?" Wyatt cries out in alarm.

Lucy recovers and quickly gets up and goes to the door to let Rufus and Jiya in.

"I'M OKAY!" she yells back at Wyatt as she gives Rufus and Jiya a panicked, aggravated look.

"I told you to text me when you got here so I could meet you in the lobby," She chastises Rufus in a harsh whisper.

"I did," Rufus defends himself in full voice, as Lucy and Jiya slap at him and shush him. "You didn't respond." He continues in a whisper, "The front desk sent us to your room, but you guys weren't here."

"LUCY IS SOMEONE ELSE IN THERE WITH YOU?" Wyatt yells in concern from the shower.

"No, just the TV," Lucy lies. Great, she thinks to herself, now he's going to think she's not interested in joining him in the shower, which is the furthest thing from the truth.

Wyatt must not have believed her because suddenly the sound of the shower running stops and the bathroom door starts to open. Jiya reacts quickly by throwing her body against the door shutting Wyatt in the bathroom.

"What the hell?" Wyatt mutters from the other side of the door.

Rufus and Lucy look on in shock as Jiya's body starts sliding across the floor from the force of Wyatt attempting to push open the door. Jiya looks at Rufus and Lucy in aggravated desperation as she mouths the word "Help!" at them, sending Rufus into action as he joins his girlfriend, helping her push the door back closed.

This has turned into a disaster, Lucy thinks as she scrambles for a way out of this mess. Luckily, Jiya is the only one thinking clearly as she motions with her hands for Lucy to switch places with her and Rufus. Lucy shoots Jiya an appreciative glance as she joins them at the bathroom door. Rufus places a set of keys in her hand along with a receipt silently communicating to her that she can pay him later. She nods and braces herself for what's about to happen next. She quickly puts the keys and receipt in her pocket as Rufus and Jiya silently wish her luck and hastily make their escape out of the room, leaving Lucy's small framed body the only force against the door Wyatt is pushing against with all of his might from the other side. Lucy goes flailing faster than she predicted she would. She ricochets off the wall on the other side which sends her crumpling to the ground and rolling across the floor where she stops right at Wyatt's wet, bare feet.

"LUCY!" Wyatt cries in fear and alarm.

As he kneels down to help her, Lucy notices he's wrapped only in a towel that does nothing to hide the parts it's meant to hide.

"Are you okay?" He asks her as he begins to help her up. "I'm so sorry, I thought someone was in here with you, after you, I didn't think it was you against the door. Why and how were you blocking the door like that?"

Lucy has nothing, so she says nothing. The way she sees it, the surprise hasn't been spoiled yet, and she has endured too much pain and humiliation to give up now, but she quickly realizes saying nothing isn't the right thing to do where Wyatt is concerned. As soon as he has her on her feet, he quickly retrieves his gun from the nightstand and transforms into full soldier mode. She is amused at the sight of him wearing only a towel and professionally searching the room with his gun drawn. It is a comical sight and yet also sexy as hell.

Lucy clears her throat to get his attention. "I'm ready to join you in the shower now."

Slightly irritated yet intrigued, Wyatt stops and turns his attention fully on Lucy.

"Not until you tell me what happened," he tells her, confidently standing his ground.

"No one was here, I just fell against the door," Lucy cunningly lies, targeting him with a sultry stare as she begins to remove her clothes.

She can tell he still doesn't believe her, but his shoulders begin to slack and relax with every garment of clothing she removes from her body. When she gets down to nothing but her bra and panties, his gun drops with a clunk on the night stand and suddenly he's right in front of her.

"Need some help?" He offers her, completely transformed from the soldier he was just seconds before into a man fully at her mercy.

Lucy almost laughs as she thinks about all the arguments over how to handle missions her and Wyatt had before they'd moved to this level in their relationship, and how even more easily she could have gotten her way by simply removing her clothes. The thought makes her regret the time her and Wyatt lost even more than she already does. Although, they were certainly doing an excellent job so far at making up for some of that lost time.

"Oh, I think I can handle this by now," Lucy teases him by bringing back the very words she said to him in the last ride they had in the lifeboat, and the last time he buckled her in.

Grinning from ear to ear, Wyatt happily obliges her with what she wants to hear, "Oh, it's no problem at all, Ma'am."

Lucy squeals in delight as Wyatt lifts her in the air and twirls her in the bathroom.

0 • 0 • 0 • 0 • 0

"So, what did you decide?" Wyatt asks her after they were out of the shower and dressed, "Check out time is in thirty minutes. Do you want me to get the room for another night?"

Lucy starts to play her cards carefully. This was her chance to plant the idea in Wyatt's head and make him think he came up with it so her surprise would have a bigger impact.

"I don't know Wyatt, we can't exactly live out of hotels, can we?"

Wyatt thinks for a second and then smirks at her. "That's exactly what we can do."

"What do you mean?" Lucy plays coy.

"I mean," Wyatt says as he takes her hand, "Lucy Preston, will you go away with me?"

"What about Agent Christopher? Don't you start work with her soon?" Lucy already knows the answer to that question because she had asked Agent Christopher herself already, and she told Lucy she already gave Wyatt a well deserved, two month paid vacation leave.

"No, I'm free for the next two months, paid vacation," Wyatt excitedly admits to her, "I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, what about you? Do you have to go back to teaching right away?"

Lucy grins and shakes her head. "No, it's the second semester already. I won't start again until August. Unless I decide to teach in the summer."

"So?" Wyatt asks "Is that a yes?"

Lucy is stoic this conversation is playing out just as she hoped. "Yes Wyatt Logan, I'll go anywhere with you."

Wyatt is so excited he crushes Lucy to him in a big hug. "Our first vacation!"

The absurdity of his statement is not lost on Lucy. "Wyatt, we've been away together several times."

He laughs. "Yes, but never in the present and never as a couple."

Couple. Lucy lights up at the title. That's what her and Wyatt are. Wyatt and Lucy. Logan and Preston. They had kicked ass and saved the world and now they had a chance to breathe and enjoy the world they had saved.

"So, where to babydoll?" Wyatt asks her, teasing her with the nickname. "Name it, somewhere you've always wanted to go, in the present."

Lucy laughs. They were never going to get used to the fact they had been to the past. "What if we just get on the road and go, Sweetheart?"

After smirking at the nickname, Wyatt looks at Lucy lovingly and knowingly. "There's nothing ahead but the open road."

"We'll go down it together," Lucy adds, the sentiment of it not just being a road trip but the rest of their lives not lost on either of them.

"Together, let's do it," he says as he seals their agreement with a passionate kiss.

0 • 0 • 0 • 0 • 0

As Wyatt goes to the front desk to check them out, Lucy picks up both of their duffle bags he had set on the ground.

"I'm gonna go ahead and put these in your truck, okay?"

Wyatt's gentlemen nature is offended. "Lucy, if you just wait, I can get that."

Lucy rolls her eyes. "What? Because I'm a woman I can't carry the bags out?"

Knowing better than to argue with that, Wyatt gives up and gives her the keys.

She hauls the bags outside and starts scanning the parking lot for Wyatt's surprise. Wow, she thinks, as it sticks out like the lifeboat would in a mall parking lot. She hurries over to it, uses the key Rufus gave her to unlock the trunk putting the bags in, and then she gets in the drivers seat, thankful the top is already down as she cranks it up, and drives it up to the front. She then hurries up and slides over to the passenger seat just as Wyatt is coming out of the hotel.

At first he's speechless and he just stands still not able to conform a coherent thought.

"Thought you might want to hit the open road in style," Lucy says to him.

"Lucy," Wyatt finally speaks in disbelief. "That's a red 1955 Ford Thunderbird Convertible."

"Yes," Lucy acknowledges back to him, "it's ours for the next week."

"When did you? How did you?" Wyatt rambled. "God, Lucy this must have cost you a fortune."

Lucy smiled at him and shook her head. "Rufus found it today, someone Mason knows owns it, gave him a pretty big discount."

Wyatt shakes his head and smiles back at her. "That was Rufus in the room today wasn't it?"

"And Jiya, you almost pushed her against the wall with the door instead of me," Lucy laughs.

"Oh God, I'm still so sorry about that."

Then he says in wonder, "I can't believe you did this for me, no one's ever.."

He stops talking and goes to her, taking her face in his hands and kissing her hard on the lips, "Thank you."

"Your welcome," Lucy says as Wyatt gives her another quick peck before walking circles around the car and examining it with awe. There's fanboy Wyatt, Lucy rejoices to herself.

Wyatt excitedly comes around to the drivers side and gets in.

"You ready for this?" He asks her with a big grin.

"Wait," Lucy says remembering something. She reaches in her purse and pulls out two pairs of sunglasses she'd purchased in the hotel lobby earlier. She hands Wyatt his pair and puts hers on as Wyatt laughs and then gawks at her in desire.

"Do you know how unbelievably sexy you are right now?" He tells her as he puts on his sunglasses.

Lucy laughs, "No, I think you have me beat," she says as he reaches across her and buckles her seatbelt.

Wyatt then buckles his seatbelt and holds out his hand to Lucy. She smiles and looks at him before putting her hand in his. Then, without looking back they finally set out ahead on the open road, together.


End file.
